The Government will progress a second Resource Management Act Amendment Bill and a suite of changes to national direction to drive economic growth and productivity, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop says.

“It’s too hard to get things done in New Zealand, and our planning system is a big part of what’s holding us back,” Mr Bishop says.

“The Government campaigned on cutting through the tangle of red and green tape holding back much-needed development, and we are delivering it.

“We repealed the Natural and Built Environment Act and Spatial Planning Act before Christmas as promised, and our one-stop shop Fast-track Bill is currently before the Environment Committee.

“Earlier this year we introduced our first RMA Amendment Bill which makes urgent changes to give certainty to councils and consent applicants while new legislation to replace the RMA is developed. This Bill is currently before the Primary Production Committee.

“Our next step is four packages of reforms to be delivered through a second RMA Amendment Bill, which will be introduced alongside the single largest package of national direction changes in New Zealand’s history: seven new national direction instruments, and amendments to fourteen existing ones.

“The priority in working out these packages was to give effect to coalition commitments, quick wins for simplifying the system even further and cutting red tape, and changes that can transition to the new RMA system once implemented.

The changes can be grouped into four distinct packages:

Infrastructure and Energy

“This package will develop further national direction to enable a range of productivity-boosting energy and infrastructure projects including a new NPS-Infrastructure. It will also provide a consistent approach to quarrying across the Resource Management System, and as signalled earlier this year, will also extend the duration of port coastal permits by a further 20 years. It will also change the NES for Telecommunications Facilities to keep up to date with technological developments and give telcos greater certainty and reduced consenting costs as they upgrade their infrastructure, and give effect to the Government’s Electrify NZ reforms to make it easier to consent renewable energy.

Housing

“The housing package will contain reform needed to enable the first pillar of the Government’s Going For Housing Growth policies announced earlier this year. These changes will include requiring councils to demonstrate compliance with the 30-year Housing Growth Targets while providing the flexibility for councils to opt out of the Medium Density Residential Standards. We will also make changes to the National Policy Statement-Urban Development and the National Policy Statement-Highly Productive Land, simplify heritage management, and develop new national direction to enable granny flats and papakāinga housing.

Farming and the Primary Sector

“The primary industries package will contain changes to drive primary sector productivity. This package will mainly give effect to National Party Manifesto promises and coalition agreements. Cabinet has agreed to amend the National Policy Statement-Highly Productive Land to make it clear that indoor primary production and greenhouses are permitted on highly productive land, as well as specifying that farmers are also allowed to build new specified infrastructure such as solar farms on that land. These changes will be gazetted soon.

Emergencies and Natural Hazards

“This package will provide a comprehensive, nationally consistent framework for addressing the risks posed by natural hazards, including risks from climate change. The previous government began this work but intended to progress it in a two-step process. Feedback from submitters indicated that a single instrument would be more efficient, and this package will provide that efficiency in the form of a new national direction on natural hazards which will provide direction to councils on how to identify natural hazards, assess the risk they pose, and how to respond to that risk through planning controls. The RMA Amendment Bill 2 will also include improved emergency provisions to better enable rapid responses to disasters.

“I expect to introduce the second RMA Amendment Bill to Parliament before the end of the year and pass it into law in mid-2025. The national direction package will follow the same timeline

“Phase Three of our reforms will involve a full replacement of the Resource Management Act with new legislation based on the enjoyment of property rights, to be introduced to Parliament before the end of 2025. I’ll have more to say on this soon.”

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